Unspoken Words
by harumichi98
Summary: Rei struggles to come to terms and admits how she feels about Minako. Based on the prompt "things not said at 6 am". Oneshot.


A/N: Hello! I have been really into the Minako/Rei ship lately and thought I might try my hand at it. Here's a quickish oneshot based on the prompt "things not said at 6 am." Enjoy!

Every morning Rei Hino awoke before the sun. After helping her grandpa run the Hikawa Shrine for so long, Rei didn't even need an alarm clock to wake up. Her body dutifully woke her up each day at 6 am regardless of what time she went to sleep the night before.

Rei had her morning routine down; wake up, meditate in front of the sacred fire, sweep, tend to the grounds, and finally make breakfast. It was Saturday which meant Rei had just a smidge of time to herself after breakfast, something that never occurred on weekdays thanks to school. Only being a young teenager, Rei felt like she had a lot on her plate, but she never complained.

After what Rei would call a successful meditation session and found that the shrine only needed a quick sweeping, she found herself in the garden. In fact, this was Rei's favorite part of the whole shrine. The garden had been originally planted and tended to by Rei's late mother, and by keeping up with the duties herself Rei felt as if she would always have a connection with her. It was just the right season for all the cherry blossom trees to be blooming.

Smiling to herself, Rei sat underneath one of the trees. A strong gust of wind blew loose cherry blossoms and the presence of someone else towards the girl. Rei's smile immediately faltered at the thought of losing her few intimate moments of peace. "Who's there?" Rei called already fumbling for her henshin stick in the pocket of her robes.

Rei gasped as two hands were suddenly placed over her eyes. "Guess who?" Warm breath tickled Rei's ear as the lips of whoever was speaking were in _extremely_ close proximity to her ear. Goosebumps formed across Rei's skin along with a light pink blush on her cheeks. Trying to ignore her body's response Rei grabbed the offending hands and pulled them down, spinning around to face the intruder.

By now the sun was just peeking over the horizon casting a light orange glaze over everything. For just a moment Rei felt her heart beat a bit harder when she found herself looking in the eyes of Minako Aino. The way the rising sun cast its rays on Minako's skin caused Rei to stare at her a little bit longer than she should have. It was no secret to anyone that Minako was a very attractive person, but lately Minako and Rei had grown a lot closer in friendship.

As their friendship grew, Rei had started to feel something else forming inside her. There was a mass of unidentified feelings, and seeing the younger girl now, bathed in the sunlight and they were all alone- Rei shook her head. "What are you doing here so early in the morning?" The blue eyes Rei was staring into quickly went from mischievous to disappointment as Minako felt annoyance behind the question.

"I couldn't sleep, and I knew you would be awake." Minako cast her eyes down towards the ground. "I'm sorry if I interrupted your shrine duties, Reiko." Rei's heart fluttered at the nickname Minako had given her. It was a nickname that Minako only called her in private, but it made it all the more special knowing it was something only _they_ shared.

"You just scared me, Mina, that's all." Rei said a lot gentler than last time hoping that the use of the younger's girl nickname was appropriate. In a split second Minako was beaming back up at Rei, all too happy to know she hadn't completely ticked off the older girl.

"You're the guardian of fire, but I think they should have made you the guardian of temperament." Minako joked with a fake pout plastered on her face. Rei's eyes unconsciously flicked down at the pout, fighting very conflicting urges of wanting to kiss the pout away or tell Minako to stop being a baby. Being the hothead she is, Rei decided to go with the latter.

"You're such a baby sometimes!" Rei rolled her eyes which caused Minako to pout even harder. The sun was now right over the horizon line and in the perfect spot to cast shadows through the trees. Little shadows danced across Minako's facial features while the sunlight had gradually taken on a more yellow hue. Rei swore that the girl in front of her must really be a goddess with how the sunlight reflected off of Minako, surrounding her in an aura of light.

If someone asked Rei right now who shone brighter, Minako or the sun, she wouldn't be able to deny that the blonde could light up a room better than any star. "Are you okay?" Minako dropped her pout and tilted her head to one side with a look of concern in her eyes. Rei got dizzy at the sight of the creamy skin exposed on Minako's neck when she did this.

"Never been better!" Rei responded way too enthusiastically. _When did the line of friendship begin to disappear? _The older girl had been toying with her strange feelings towards Minako for a while, but this was the first time that Rei couldn't control them. For some reason something inside Rei stirred that made her want to test the waters a bit with Minako.

A silence fell over the pair. It was thick, awkward, and Rei absolutely hated it. Yet neither girl made any move to fix it. Rei and Minako just stood there, albeit a bit too close together, while the first girl stared at the ground and the latter twiddled her thumbs. Their close proximity was not missed by Rei no matter how hard she wanted to ignore it. "Mina, I-"

"Well look at that! You've brought a pretty girl for me Rei?" Both girls quickly took a step back from each other as a new voice interrupted whatever Rei was about to say. On most occasions Rei would be embarrassed by her grandfather continuously arriving at the worst times, but he might have just saved her from saying something she wasn't even sure about herself.

"No grandpa, this is Minako Aino. You've met her before." The aforementioned blonde sheepishly waved to the older man.

"Nice to see you again Grandpa Hino!" Minako smiled at him and something inside Rei wished it had been directed at her. "Sorry if I'm disturbing you!" she apologized for the second time that day, but of course the senior Hino wouldn't have that.

"Any friend of Rei's is always welcome in the shrine! Especially when they're as pretty as you." The older man shot a wink at Minako when he said that causing Minako to blush out of pure awkwardness. Now Rei was reconsidering if his arrival was in fact a curse and not a blessing. "Now come inside you two."

"Actually grandpa, I never got around to finishing my chores this morning. I got a bit distracted." The last word lingered on Rei's tongue like fire. It was not the best choice of words to describe simply having Minako show up this morning. That word had too many connotations that the older man could explore, but thankfully he didn't. Instead he dismissed Rei's worrying with a wave of his hand.

"Yuuichirou will take care of that." The elder walked over to the two younger girls and began to shuffle them up the steps of the shrine. "Come along now and we can get Minako fitted for a shrine maidens' uniform." Rei was about to say something back about how Minako wasn't here to work for them, but her grandfather was moving quickly up the steps.

"Ignore that last part about the uniform." The pair started up the stairs, any trace of awkwardness from earlier completely gone. "You know how he is. He's trying to sell more love amulets today and Yuuichirou isn't the best at selling them." Both girls laughed at the image of the younger man, who was hopelessly infatuated with Rei, trying to sell an item meant for love.

"Well you're good at selling them, right? I mean you're so beautiful, Reiko, who wouldn't want to buy one from you?" Rei felt her hands get clammy after Minako added the last comment. She looked over at the blonde for any indication that Minako might have meant that in a 'more than friends' way, but her violet eyes were only met with a signature Minako smile. At least the smile was directed at her this time.

"If I was good at selling them, I guess we wouldn't need more people." Rei muttered underneath her breath. As they approached the top of the steps Minako turned to look at Rei.

"You know I actually might take your grandfather up on being a stand in shrine maiden." It looked as if the gears were turning in Minako's head, something that typically led to a scheme of some sort. "If I ever want to become famous then I need to have all the experience I can get!" Minako sounded determined, too determined for Rei's liking, and at this point there was no changing her mind.

"Whatever you want, Minako. Just know you'll be stuck with me all day." Rei playfully stuck her tongue out at the younger girl while silently thanking whatever force in the universe was causing this to happen. Minako shrugged.

"Being with you all day is an added bonus." Rei got flustered all over again and wondered if Minako could tell what she was doing to her. "Besides-" Minako flashed a 'V' with one of her hands and struck a pose. "I'm the guardian of love! If I can't sell love amulets, then no one can." With that declaration Minako ran up the rest of the steps and inside the shrine. Rei followed suit whilst shaking her head at the thought of how the day would go.

Of course, the elder Hino was very pleased that Minako was going to help them that day. Rei knew it was a win-win situation for him- he got free help and it was from a pretty girl. Typically, Rei would vehemently refuse any of her friends working at the shrine, but unbeknownst to anyone else, she realized this was a win-win situation for herself too. She got help while selling the love amulets _and _got to spend quality time with Minako.

At high noon the shrine opened their doors for business. Rei was absolutely smitten with the way Minako looked in her robes. It wasn't unusual for Rei to be dressed in her miku robes while at the shrine, but when any of her friends visited, they always wore casual apparel. Now, with Minako adorning similar robes, Rei couldn't help but recognize how cuddly she looked. The older girl pushed a hand through her hair and sighed. This day might be longer than she thought.

Surprisingly enough, the day went by without a hitch. Quite obviously Minako was a natural saleswoman. The way she spoke about finding true love paired with the passion sparkling in her eyes and the never wavering smile, Rei found herself being swayed to buy an amulet. Truly there was no point in buying a love amulet when the person Rei felt so strongly about was only an arm's reach away.

Finally, after several more hours of sales and side glances at a certain blonde, all of the amulets had been sold. Grandpa Hino was more than happy about this and insisted that Minako come back to help them again. Rei would later insist to her that it was not necessary, but nothing stopped a determined Minako.

For the next few months Minako dutifully showed up at the shrine every Saturday morning. Rei felt as if her weeks were dragging by until Saturday morning would roll around and a familiar blonde girl would be waiting in the garden for her. And somehow the site of Minako standing in the light of the sunrise always left Rei breathless for a moment. It became very evident to Rei that her feelings were becoming stronger once she began to measure days based off of the last time Minako had come over.

It was one Saturday morning when Rei was up even earlier than normal that she went to go sit in the garden and wait for Minako. The garden was dark and quiet. No sunlight poked through the clouds, and with how overcast the sky looked Rei doubt it would. A flash of doubt crossed her mind, wondering if the younger girl would even come if the weather presented itself as horrible.

The thought quickly left Rei's mind as two hands gently covered her eyes. "Guess who?" Just like months ago when Minako first surprised Rei, the proximity was close. Rei could only imagine the smile on Minako's face as she had triumphantly snuck up on the older girl.

"Let me guess…" Rei trailed off in a mocking tone. Her mouth curled into a smirk. As quickly as the hands had been placed over her eyes, Rei reached up and grabbed them. Minako squeaked in surprise when Rei turned to face her, lowering the hands from her face. "I knew it was you, Mina." Her voice was soft. "I was worried the weather might stop you from coming today."

"I would never miss our day together, Reiko." Rei was falling. The simple confession caused an awakening inside the older girl. As the guardian of fire there was always something burning inside Rei. Right now, her own feelings for Minako were the fire and every little comment, every touch, every giggle, smile, or laugh was the oxygen supply that fueled the fire.

Minako's hands were very soft. Rei still hadn't let go of them and now she found that it was an even better feeling when her thumbs started circling on the back of Minako's hands. This was the second time the pair had ended up in the garden together at an unfavorable time in the morning. It was too early for Rei's mind to discern between right and wrong. While her body was awake her mind was always further behind.

Violet eyes stared into blue searching for an answer to the question that hadn't been asked. _Is it the same for you?_ Unconsciously Rei had moved closer and closer to Minako, their noses only inches apart. "Rei." Minako said in a breathy way that caused the mentioned girl a bit of inner turmoil.

"Minako?" Rei leaned backwards just now realizing how close they were. In the process Rei also dropped her hands quickly missing the contact as soon as it was lost. Minako shyly looked down at her now freed hands and nervously toyed with her fingers.

"Reiko, I-" A loud clap of thunder shook the air around the girls. Rei felt a warm body pressed against her followed by the scent of vanilla. Alarm bells fervently went off in her head as. Rei realized the warm body belonged to Minako.

"Neh, are you scared of a little thunder Mina?" Rei gently teased. A very muffled 'Hai' could be heard coming from the shoulder Minako had buried her face into. Light rain began to fall but the previous thunder had promised that the rain would pick up at any moment. "Let's go before it starts pouring."

"Let's hurry. I don't like thunderstorms that much." Rei didn't tease Minako any further as it was evident by how quick the latter went up the shrine stairs that her fear of thunder was very legitimate. Rei led the younger girl to her bedroom. Thanks to the weather the room seemed almost uninviting. Minako either didn't care or didn't notice this detail as Rei watched her climb into her bed.

_Only you, Minako_. Rei knew that if anyone else would have done that, her temper would've gotten the better of her. The older girl closed the bedroom door and found a spot on the floor, trying and failing to make herself comfortable on the wood.

"Will you be okay selling amulets without me?" Minako had pulled the covers over her head causing the already muffled question to be drowned out by the sound of the rain.

"Minako, I can't hear you. Move the blanket." Rei said this firmly but was trying to fight the smile that was trying to form on her face. Minako was acting like a stubborn child, but Rei found it adorable.

"No." Came the short and stern reply. Rei sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Alright then, I'm coming over." Rei got up and walked to the lump of blanket on her bed. Gripping the top with two hands she pulled it back revealing a pouty Minako.

"I'm cold now!" the blonde pouted and reached for the blanket. Rei held it away from her.

"I can't hear you under the blanket!" Rei took a seat at the edge of the bed. While her tone might have been firm, she was sure Minako could see how her eyes were amused with her antics involving the storm. "We're inside now. The storm can't hurt you. I promise, Mina." Rei's tone had the same softness it did outside in the garden. She wondered what Usagi would do if she figured out Minako had been softening her up.

"Rei? Would it be too much to ask for you to lay with me while the storm passes?" Rei looked at Minako who was giving the most innocent look in the world. Within moments Rei found herself lying opposite of Minako. In the process she gave the blanket back, but there was an awkward gap between them. Rei had positioned herself so perfectly between Minako and the wall her bed was pushed against that not a single part of their bodies were touching. If they didn't touch, Rei figured she could pretend as if being alone in her bedroom with Minako wasn't completely driving her emotions crazy.

"What were you trying to ask me a minute ago?" Rei tried to fill the space between them with small talk, but that seemed to come up just as empty.

"Will you be okay selling amulets without me?" Before both girls had been lying on their backs and staring at the ceiling, but Minako turned herself so her body was angled towards Rei.

"With weather like this the shrine will be closed." Rei continued acting as if she was interested in the ceiling. If she turned to face Minako they would be too close to each other for Rei to be comfortable. Of course, fate was still a force to be reckoned with. Another large clap of thunder found Rei holding Minako this time, the concept of personal space between them being diminished.

Rei felt if she moved that this feeling would go away. She became extremely aware of close they were when Minako seemed to relax in her arms. Rei had one arm under a blonde head while the other was draped around said blonde's waist. Minako had slipped her own arm around Rei's waist while the other stayed curled up by her chest.

The dizzying smell of vanilla reminded Rei of their unfinished conversation from the garden this morning. Unfortunately for Rei, the moment she worked up the courage to ask about this, Minako spoke first. "Is this okay?"

When Minako asked that question Rei couldn't be bothered to even formulate a response. The younger girl's head was laying on Rei's shoulder, so when she spoke her lips were practically ghosting over the neck of the older girl. Rei wondered what it would feel like if Minako pressed her lips onto her neck. "This is, uh, it's okay!" she managed to stammer out.

"You sound so nervous, Reiko." Minako mused and hugged Rei a bit tighter. This motion caused the hem of Minako's shirt to ride up. Rei fought hard with herself when she felt the shirt slide up, but it was a losing battle. Gently she placed her hand on the exposed skin of Minako's side. When she did this, the younger girl let out a breathy sigh onto Rei's neck.

Oh, how that small noise fueled the flames of desire Rei had for Minako even more. "What were you trying to say to me outside?" The question tumbled out of Rei's mouth before she had a chance to even contemplate what the question could be. Minako stiffened slightly at the notion of this which just meant Rei wanted to know even more now.

"You tell me first." This time, they were close enough to where Rei really could feel lips on her neck when the younger girl answered. Rei wanted to ask her questions to elicit a long response if it meant she could feel those lips again. Luckily for her, her wish might be granted. "The first morning I came to the shrine, you were going to say something in the garden, but your grandfather interrupted us."

This definitely jogged Rei's memory. If she was being honest, Rei had no idea what she was going to say that day nor did she now. Feelings besides anger had always been harder for Rei to express. Top that with being put on the spot and there was absolutely no way she could form a response.

"You know you can tell me anything, Reiko." Maybe it was the combination of feeling Minako pressed against her and lips speaking onto her skin. It could have also easily been the sweet scent and melodic voice that teased her nose and ears alike. The overwhelming presence of Minako was probably what did it.

At some point in her life Rei had heard the phrase "some things are better left unsaid." It was here in this moment, holding the girl that she had fallen helplessly in love with, that Rei realized how right that saying was. Rei didn't need to tell Minako what she was trying to say the same way Minako didn't need to tell her.

Rei pulled back a bit from Minako where their arms were still wrapped around each other, but there was space between them. When Rei moved her hand up to Minako's face part of her expected the blonde to resist her, call her a freak, or something. Instead she was met with a small smile. All of this was new to Rei but the lack of resistance from Minako kept her confidence up. Almost lazily she rubbed her thumb on the other girl's cheek, smiling herself when Minako leaned into the embrace. Both girls leaned in towards each other agonizingly slow as if each millimeter moved was another mountain that had to be scaled.

Rei closed the distance between them and prayed that this was a good enough answer for Minako. The second their lips touched Rei felt the fire truly ignite inside of her. Minako reciprocated the kiss, confirming what she had been trying to say earlier. The kiss was a perfect balance of both girls; innocent love from Minako swirled with a fiery passion from Rei.

Both pulled away from the kiss at the same time confirming exactly what they needed to know. Rei glanced over at Minako who was sporting a shy smile. For the first time in months the silence between them was welcoming. All the things that hadn't been said finally had been.


End file.
